Voters in the C-Tran district of Clark County are facing a Nov. 6 ballot measure that would pay for operating and maintaining MAX light rail in the county and for building and operating a new bus rapid transit line.

Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt is unequivocal: He plans to vote in favor of Proposition 1 which, if approved, would increase the sales tax in the C-Tran district by 0.1 percent, the equivalent of a penny on every $10 purchase, to 0.8 percent. The increase would be added to the 8.4 percent combined state and local sales tax that most Clark County residents pay and would raise some $4.5 million.

David Madore, who is challenging Clark County Commissioner Marc Boldt in the Nov. 6 election, leads the opposition to the measure. He said it would motivate shoppers to go to Oregon, where there is no sales tax. More importantly, Vancouverites haven't had a chance to decide whether they want light rail at all, he said. "It is the wrong project, funded in the wrong way, with the wrong priorities," he said.

"The people in our county have been denied a vote on the most expensive project in our history," he said. "The closest we can get to it is this vote on funding light rail."

Light rail is tied to the planned Interstate 5 Columbia River Crossing bridge, which will not relieve congestion, Madore said. Instead, a third bridge should be built. In addition, he said, bus rapid transit is "the most expensive" alternative open to C-Tran, which voters already granted a 0.2 percent sales tax increase last year. The transit agency should use the buses it has to add runs, Madore said.

The C-Tran board views the rail and bus improvements as a deal that's done. Its proposed sales tax increase would raise $4.5 million for two things:

About $3.2 million would be used to operate and maintain the 2.9-mile extended MAX line from the Portland Expo Center to Clark College in Vancouver.

View full sizeCourtesy of C-TRAN
Eugene's Lane Transit District is using the kind of articulated bus that C-Tran in Clark County proposes to add with a new bus rapid transit system along Fourth Plain. The articulated buses are 60 feet long and would accommodate more passengers than the 40-foot buses currently used on Fourth Plain.

The remaining $1.3 million would help build and operate a 6.7-mile bus rapid transit system from the Vancouver Mall along Fourth Plain Boulevard to downtown Vancouver. Similar systems are in use in Eugene as well as in Albuquerque, Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

The proposed light-rail extension and proposed bus system are pieces of the metro area's biggest, most troubled transit project: the proposed $3.5 billion Columbia River Crossing. Funding and design problems have slowed the project and no date for construction has been set.

Voter poll

The Washington Policy Center this week released the results of a poll asking 400 likely voters within the C-Tran district about light rail and whether they support the proposed C-Tran sales tax increase.

Here are some of the questions and responses.

"Do you support or oppose raising the sales tax for a new light-rail system from Vancouver to Portland?"

Strongly oppose: 50 percent

Somewhat oppose: 16 percent

Strongly support: 10 percent

Somewhat support: 18 percent

Don't know: 8 percent

"Do you support or oppose any type of tax or fee to pay for light rail from Vancouver to Portland?"

Strongly oppose: 45 percent

Somewhat oppose: 13 percent

Strongly support: 12 percent

Somewhat support: 22 percent

Don't know: 8 percent

"Should taxpayers in Washington state have the opportunity to vote on whether to extend Portland's light-rail system to Vancouver, or not?"

Yes: 87 percent

No: 9 percent

Don't know: 4 percent

Respondents were also read the text of the C-Tran measure and then asked, "Should this proposition be approved or rejected?"

Under CRC plans, federal and state funds would pay the $850 million to extend MAX, giving Vancouver access to TriMet's 52-mile light rail system throughout Portland and its Oregon suburbs. The C-Tran sales tax revenue would not be used for MAX construction.

The federal government would also provide up to $40 million of the $50 million needed to pay for the 60-foot articulated buses that would speed travel along Fourth Plain, said Scott Patterson, spokesman for C-Tran.

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Buetler, R-Wash., whose district includes Clark County, said in a prepared statement she is withholding her verdict on Proposition 1. She said the measure is, in her mind, a referendum for local voters to express their opinions on light rail. Bus rapid transit should be a separate measure, she said.

"Clark County residents have had quite enough of politicians and project sponsors telling them what to do with regard to light rail," said Herrera Beutler's communications director, Casey Bowman. "Jaime isn't urging voters to do anything other than to make their voices heard through their ballots, and she will listen to what they have to say."

A grass-roots movement is pushing to pass the measure, largely because members favor the new rapid buses.

"The vote directly impacts our neighborhood, Maplewood, where we are actively working to revitalize the Fourth Plain corridor," said Derya Ruggles, a member of the nonprofit Transportation Choices Coalition, who is pushing for passage. "Personally, I am neutral with the LRT (light rail), but understand the cost concerns. You can be for, against or indifferent to LRT and still BRT looks good."

Patterson, the C-Tran spokesman, said the measure is not a referendum on light rail, but simply a funding mechanism for specific, necessary bus and rail improvements that have been approved.

"It's probably the most straightforward measure you could have for maintenance of light rail and bus rapid transit," said State Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver. "You can't really separate the two needs for funding because if you did, you'd be into (a sales tax increase of) half a percent and it just wouldn't make sense."

He said the measure is essential and emphasized the role light rail has played in planning for the Columbia River Crossing. "The CRC is a compromise between two states. If we drop the light-rail portion we'd have to go back to the drawing board, and we'd be looking at another 20-year delay."

Leavitt said Herrera Beutler is making a political issue out of a reasonable, common-sense decision. He would prefer other methods of financing light rail, but some method is essential, he said.

He appointed a 10-member committee that met for three months last winter and came up with alternative funding sources. The committee suggested reallocation of the $1.2 million a year saved by C-Tran when it stops some old routes and converts its current bus lines on Fourth Plain to larger, faster buses and increases the number of riders and fares. Other possible funding sources included a fare increase, a car rental tax, a local employer tax, vehicle license fee increases, or a combination of those methods, the committee said.

But C-Tran decided the sales tax would provide an adequate, more stable funding source.

If Clark County voters refuse to pay their share, Leavitt said, that could damage the chances that the federal government will pay its share of the Columbia River Crossing project. He said the federal government would want to see local buy-in before releasing $850 million to build the MAX line across the river.

"Our federal congresswoman has taken a position that I am baffled by," he said. "She is looking to appease a certain group. As a local official, I can't afford to play games."